


Under Pressure

by PeachyPansexual



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Agender Character, Logan and Vetra are definitely a thing, Sibling Bonding, agender ryder, but I didn't wanna bait anyone by tagging it, cause that's not our focus this time, karaoke night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 20:55:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12020829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachyPansexual/pseuds/PeachyPansexual
Summary: Good friends ask you whats wrong, best friends try to fix it. Siblings offer to punch your feelings in the face, but sometimes that's just as good.





	Under Pressure

Ryder-1. It was an honor, or it was supposed to be. Logan didn’t feel honored, having the place where everything went wrong right off the bat named after them. They could pretend it was after Dad, honoring him in the place he fell, or after Ethan, seeing as he was instrumental in actually beating the Archon. But no, it was after Logan.

They watched the broadcast of the official naming ceremony, conducted by Tann because of course it was. Overusage of the words “hero,” “savior,” and “trailblazer,” especially out of that walking cloaca, just left a bad taste in their mouth.

“Hey, Tinkerbell. Whatcha watching?” Ethan dropped down on their bed next to them, having hitched a ride on the Tempest back to the Nexus. “Anything good?”

They closed the clip on their omni-tool and rubbed their eyes with the heels of their hands. “Ugh. Just a bunch of people continuing to buy the lie that the human Pathfinder is this cool, collected badass and not a kid in way over their head. So… no, not especially.”

“That bad, huh?” He asked.

“Worse. Because I’ve been the one selling it hardest. Have you seen my interviews with T'Vessa? I’m so… Levelheaded. Smiling the whole time while talking about the things I’ve done like I wasn’t completely out of my depth and terrified while doing them.” Logan flopped back on the bed, still gesturing while they talked.

“You look like a beetle stuck on its back when you do that.” Ethan laughed at their sibling’s subsequent one finger salute. “But yeah, I did. Had to kill time while I was still stuck in the medbay and I wanted to see what you’d been up to.” He laid down next to them. “Anyway, sure, you know how to smile for a camera, but that’s just being professional. Nothing wrong with that. Besides, you’ve still been way more transparent about things than anyone else would. That’s a pretty big deal.”

Logan sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I guess it just bugs me that the history books are gonna remember _Pathfinder Ryder_ because that’s all people wanna see me as. I wanna do my job, not be my job. I just wanna be Logan. Just for a little bit.”

“I think I can help with that. Meet me at the Vortex Lounge in 3 hours.” He popped up and headed out, jogging down the hall.

“What? Why? We have drinks on the ship!” They called after him.

“Don’t care!”

*****

Vortex was packed. Apparently someone had invited half of Heleus to whatever their brother was planning. The whole Tempest crew was waiting at the bar, too.

“The guest of honor has arrived!” Liam announced. “Ethan tells us you two have something special cooked up.”

“Did he now?” Logan raised an eyebrow and gave him The Older Sibling Look. “And what exactly would that something be, _Scoot?_ ”

“Oh come on, we agreed that nickname would die in the Milky Way.” Logan crossed their arms, The Look still firmly in place. “Although I suppose we did say the same thing about Tinkerbell, fair enough. Anyway! You were talking about wanting to be more _you_ to everyone. So I started thinking about the best way to help you unwind and show everyone the painfully awkward dork I had to grow up with.”

“And that we all know and love,” added Vetra.

“And?” Logan still had him fixed with The Look. “What did you come up with?”

Ethan gestured grandly to the stage. “Karaoke! What do you say? We gonna knock em dead with some Bowie and Queen?” He grinned and shuffled backwards toward the stage. “You know you wanna.” He half-sang while waggling his eyebrows. They finally relented, cracking up at their brother’s display.

“And you said I’m the dork. Fine, let’s go, just like Lita Vesatri’s party in high school!” They said as the two of them made their way up. The bass line started, and Logan was nervous. But stage fright was a welcome change, even as they noticed a dozen omni-tools getting ready to record.

_Pressure! Pushing down on me! Pressing down on you! No man asked for!_

It had been years since they had done the routine, but they still mostly remembered the steps and trade-offs. They covered Bowie’s part, plus the high note that was out of Ethan’s range. Despite how rusty they were Logan still nailed it, promoting scattered cheers that were quickly smothered while the Ryder twins finished out the song. The bar exploded into applause and Logan and Ethan took their bow, then hurried off the stage for the next performance.

Over the course of the night a few dozen other people performed, including several members from the Tempest. Liam had apparently taught Jaal “Rainbow Connection” at some point and Logan gladly sang that with the two of them. Cora performed a pop song, of all things, from the Vaenia soundtrack and Drack stunned the lot of them with his rendition of “The Krogan Queen.” Vetra even surprised Logan with an old turian love song.

For the time being they all got to feel a little more normal, more like people and less like their work. It wasn’t a night that would go down in the annals of history, but it was still a night to remember. That was good enough for Logan.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally a tumblr prompt that you can find here:
> 
> https://myspooniebardtwin.tumblr.com/post/163290541702/xeranthemum-lily-for-ryders


End file.
